Bases

The bases are what the game is played on. There are 3-5 bases in play depending on the number of players. The number of bases is the number of players plus one. Each set comes with two bases for each faction, although the connection between factions and bases is strictly thematic and sometimes even debatable. An easy way to distinguish which bases to which faction (to solve this issue) is to compare the design of the bases and factions. Unlike faction text, base text does not use the unique font found on the accompanying faction, but does share the same color scheme. Otherwise, you can refer to the pages of the different factions on this wiki or to the list below.

Each base has a breakpoint written in the top-left corner. When the combined total of power of all minions on the base equals or exceeds the breakpoint during Phase 3 of the current player's turn, the base scores. See Phase 3 for how this works.

Each base has three large numbers written on it across the middle. These numbers are the VP rewards for the players with the most, second-most, and third-most power there, respectively, when the base scores. Any player with the fourth-most power gets nothing. See also Phase 3 for how to resolve ties in power.

After a base is scored, the base is put into the base discard pile and a new base is drawn from the base deck to take its place. Therefore, there are always the same number of bases in play at all times.

At the bottom of each base is written the base's ability. The rulebook describes the ability as "sort of a combination of Special, Ongoing, and Awesome.", but really it's just Ongoing. (The exception is Jungle Oasis, which has no ability.)

School of Wizardry - breakpoint 20 - VPs: 3 2 1 - After this base scores, the winner looks at the top three cards of the base deck, chooses one to replace this base, and returns the others in any order. FAQ

The Great Library - breakpoint 22 - VPs: 4 2 1 - After this base scores, all players with minions here may draw one card. FAQ

Boogie Wonderland - breakpoint 21 - VPs: 4 2 1 - After a player plays a standard action that affects one or more of their minions here, they draw a card. FAQ

Funky Town - breakpoint 23 - VPs: 4 3 2 - Once per turn, when your standard action directly affects one or more of your minions here, you may have it affect another of your minions here the same way. FAQ

Drakkar - breakpoint 21 - VPs: 4 2 1 - The first time each turn a player plays a minion here, they may reveal the top card of another player’s deck. If it is an action, or a minion of power 3 or less, they may place it into their hand. FAQ

Longhouse - breakpoint 25 - VPs: 5 3 2 - On your turn, you may place a card from your hand on top of your deck to give one of your minions here +2 power until the end of the turn. FAQ

Cave of Shinies: The minion must actually be destroyed to get the 1 VP (e.g., “destroying” Warbot doesn’t count).

Jungle Oasis: Its ability is deliberately blank.

Mushroom Kingdom: You do not need to have a card on this base to use its ability.

Ninja Dojo: The minion destroyed may be at Ninja Dojo itself.

Rhodes Plaza Mall: All players get VPs from this ability, even if there are more than three players there.

School of Wizardry: Only one player can use the base’s ability. If there are tied winners, break the tie by starting with the current player and going clockwise.

Tar Pits, Temple of Goju: The minions are placed by their owners.

Tortuga: The minion moved cannot come from Tortuga itself.

Inventor’s Salon: The winner takes the action card before discarding any actions played on Inventor’s Salon.

Secret Grove: You can use its ability even if you don’t have a minion there.

The Dread Gazebo: This does not block actions that target a base but are not played on it (e.g., Rampage, Disenchant).

The Greenhouse: The winner searches for the minion to play after the new base is played.

Innsmouth: The chosen card goes to the bottom of its owner’s deck.

R’lyeh: If the minion is not destroyed because it is protected, its controller does not receive a VP.

Faceless City: This ability is optional. Shuffle only if you searched for a card.

Portal Room: After the winner’s extra turn, the turn order returns to the left of the player who was active when Portal Room scored.

Primate Park: You may choose to take some actions back to the hand and discard the rest.

Secret Volcano Headquarters: Return unplayed cards to the tops of their respective decks.

The Nexus: You cannot choose this to replace itself.

The Con: The power gain does not benefit the minion just played, or other minions played after it; but later minions played will cause their own additional power gain.

Standing Stones: The extra use of a talent must still include its prerequisites (e.g., G.E.L.F. cannot use its talent twice since it is not on the base after the first time). A minion with two or more talents may use just one of them a second time.

Ice Castle: This does not prevent minions from being moved here. If this base replaces a base in play (c.f. Terraforming or Burn It Down), previous minions remain on the base.

The Gauntlet: Monsters played because of The Gauntlet’s ability are played by the base, not by a player. They do not trigger Web Troll, Leprechaun, etc.

Subterranean Lair:You may invoke this any time during your Play Cards phase, even if you already invoked it earlier and moved the minion off.You may only invoke this once during your your Play Cards phase, even if the minion you played there earlier moved off.(errata'd by The Bigger Geekier Box)

Whack-A-Ghoul: Undead monsters “whacked” here are not replaced, so this base can start with no monsters on it.

Changing Room: This triggers for talents of the minion or of an action on the minion. The talent can be original to the minion or granted to it by an action on the minion (e.g. The Touch). Using a talent to move to here doesn’t count. (updated by The Bigger Geekier Box)

Hive of Scum and Villainy: A card directly increases power if it gives it “+N power”, or places a +1 power counter, or transfers a +1 power counter, or sets the printed power to a higher value. Granting a power-increase talent (e.g. The Touch), or destroying a negative power card (e.g. Change Into A Gun) are not direct power increases. This refers to actions that target cards already in play.(updated by The Bigger Geekier Box)

Spikey Chair Room: You may destroy the minion to draw the card even if the minion played here is moved later in the turn, or even if this base scores this turn.

Wintersquashed: You resolve the minion’s ability before giving control of it.

Kaiju Island: If the ability is cancelled, multiple titans still stay; new titans played or moved here would trigger removing the weaker one(s).

Moon Dumpster: Players reveal in order starting with the current player. If during setup, reveal before drawing hands, starting with the first player.

Q Point: You may have just one minion or one action there before scoring, not one of each. Indestructible cards do remain, though. Titans there do not count toward that total, and are unaffected.

Sheep Shrine: Sheep Shrine’s ability is triggered no matter how it comes into play, whether from replacing a scored base or because of another card’s ability like Terraforming or No-Moon.

The Pasture: If a card like Rick Roll or Dinghy makes several minions move to The Pasture, you choose just one of them — the first one moved there — to have another minion move with it.

Boogie Wonderland: This triggers by moving a minion from there, but not to there.

Funky Town: It cannot copy effects of actions played on minions or bases, nor of actions previously played. It cannot copy an effect already copied from a third minion by another Diva etc. It can copy once per action causing the effect, not once per minion being affected. “The same way” means e.g. moving it to the same base, or giving control of it to the same player. It can copy an effect even if it does not fit the original prerequisites (e.g. “power 3 or higher”). You must choose whether to copy an effect when the action is played, not when the effect happens. If an effect has multiple parts, choose only one part to copy. The copied effect is considered to come from the original standard action causing the effect, not from the Diva etc. allowing additional affected targets.

Truck Stop, The Greasy Spoon: Actions on minions do not count as actions on bases.

Drakkar: Cards in your hand that you do not own are still treated like your cards: you can play them normally, and you control them until they go out of play, at which point they go back to their owners. Cards you don’t own that are merely revealed in your hand or deck stay there, but if they are seen to go elsewhere (see p. 17) they then go back to their owners, unless explicitly allowed by cards like Shield Maiden etc.

Longhouse: You may place a card in your hand you don’t own on top of your deck safely, since no one sees what the card is.

Sakura Garden: This also triggers after this base scores. A minion going to the discard pile from play includes both being discarded after scoring, and being destroyed.

Shogun’s Palace, So-So Corral: If you play a minion here that lets you immediately play other minions here (e.g. Zapbot, Critter Coach), do their duels in reverse order to how they were played. The duel is chosen by the minion’s controller after the minion is played and resolved.

So-So Corral: The losing minion is destroyed by the challenging player.